Turning Hostile

Deep down, Chen Chen chuckled to himself.

Xia Yin had paid for it, and his side had spent three months working on it, yet in Zheng Jian's mouth, it had become his own project.

Not only was Zheng Jian thick-skinned, but he also had quite an appetite. Chen Chen could even imagine that if he succeeded, this paper alone would practically secure him a full professorship.

A full professor before forty—his future would be limitless.

Chen Chen now fully understood that the man before him was determined to claim his experimental results.

With that in mind, Chen Chen put on a troubled expression. "Professor Zheng, if I give up the corresponding authorship, can you really guarantee that Xia Yin and I'll be admitted to graduate school without the entrance exam? You won't go back on your word, will you?"

"Don't worry. I still have that much authority."

Zheng Jian coaxed him patiently. "Little Chen, I actually think highly of you. As long as you follow me, I have plenty of resources and projects on hand. With your ability, you won't have to worry about lacking opportunities to make a name for yourself in the future."

More like I'd just be making a wedding dress for you.

Chen Chen secretly shook his head, though his expression became even more conflicted. "Professor Zheng, I need to think this over..."

"What is there to think over?"

Zheng Jian's expression hardened as he earnestly advised, "I'm doing this for your own good. You need to understand that academia runs deep. You're lucky you met me today. If you'd met another supervisor, they'd probably give you at most a second-author slot, with no other promises at all."

Chen Chen fell silent for a moment, as though he had made up his mind. "In that case, I'll have to rely on you to look after me from now on, Supervisor!"

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zheng Jian immediately beamed with delight. He rose with a hearty laugh and patted Chen Chen on the shoulder. "You're teachable! Little Chen, go send me the experimental materials right away. Not just the data—I also want the original hard-copy materials. Xia Yin said you were keeping them."

"Alright. What's your email address? I'll send you the data now." Chen Chen took out his phone.

After Zheng Jian gave him his email address, Chen Chen sent the materials over without the slightest hesitation.

Seeing Chen Chen's attitude, Zheng Jian's expression grew even gentler.

"Supervisor, let me briefly explain the line of thought behind it."

Chen Chen walked over to Zheng Jian and pointed at the computer. "The core concept of my experiment is to use the principle of rebuilding the immune system through bone marrow transplantation to replace the aged stem cells in laboratory mice..."

"After obtaining a sufficient quantity of young Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Hematopoietic Stem Cells through stem cell cloning, we then..."

"The real difficulty of this experiment lies in..."

Chen Chen explained the experiment without holding anything back, going into extraordinary detail, as though he were telling a captivating story.

Whenever he reached an especially brilliant part, Zheng Jian could not help clapping and laughing aloud, marveling at Chen Chen's ideas.

"Little Chen, I really didn't expect this. I underestimated you."

Zheng Jian laughed. "Your ideas can only be described as wildly imaginative. You're truly promising—I knew I hadn't misjudged you!"

"You flatter me, Supervisor."

Chen Chen glanced at the door, then suddenly changed the subject. "By the way, Supervisor, is the beautiful woman in that photo frame your wife?"

"Ah, that..."

Zheng Jian had been laughing just moments ago, but at those words he froze. Then he said, "That was my ex-wife. She passed away the year before last."

"Dong..."

An ancient, resonant sound rang out from the grandfather clock. Chen Chen and Zheng Jian both stopped talking and looked toward it.

Zheng Jian suddenly felt uncomfortable. He had heard that chime countless times and should have long since learned to ignore it.

Yet for some reason, today's chime sounded especially grating...

"Ten o'clock?"

Chen Chen turned back and said softly, "Professor Zheng, this pendulum clock really is broken. It's only 9:55 right now."

As he spoke, Chen Chen walked over to the grandfather clock again and moved the hands five minutes forward.

Zheng Jian opened his mouth, but stopped himself from speaking.

For some reason, after the student before him had touched it, the familiar pendulum clock seemed somehow off. Yet when he examined it carefully, he could not find anything wrong.

After resetting the time, Chen Chen suddenly turned around and asked again, "Supervisor, did your ex-wife die in a car accident?"

"No, it was cancer."

Zheng Jian frowned. This sort of private matter was not something a student should be asking about, but for the paper's sake, he answered anyway.

"What kind of cancer?"

Chen Chen pressed.

"Medulloblastoma. Why are you asking about this?" Zheng Jian's frown deepened, and he began to show his displeasure.

"Nothing. I only heard that your ex-wife often suffered from headaches and fevers when she was alive, and you're a qualified doctor of pharmacy, so I wanted to ask..."

Chen Chen returned to the desk, his voice gradually lowering. "Did you often administer IV drips to your wife at home without authorization?"

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

At those words, Zheng Jian sprang to his feet as though he had seen a ghost. He stared at Chen Chen. "Who sent you here? Who told you to ask about these things?"

"Take a guess."

A smile curled Chen Chen's lips.

By this point, the harmonious atmosphere between them had vanished without a trace.

Chen Chen casually picked up the photo frame from the desk and turned the side with the photograph toward Zheng Jian. "I'm very curious. Why do you keep a photo of your ex-wife on your desk?"

"Because I can't forget her." Zheng Jian took a deep breath and answered coldly.

"If that's the case, why isn't the photo facing you, but the door?"

Chen Chen placed the frame before Zheng Jian. "What are you afraid of?"

"It was just placed the wrong way!"

Zheng Jian put on a fierce front to mask his weakness. "Chen, I don't care who told you all this, but I'm warning you—based on your behavior just now, I can have the school discipline you!"

"Supervisor, I'm not quite sure what you mean."

Chen Chen was completely unconcerned. He lightly tossed the photo frame in his hand, and in Zheng Jian's eyes, the woman in white on the frame fluttered up and down like a butterfly.

"Put the photo down!" Zheng Jian shouted angrily.

"Supervisor, do you know about hypnosis?"

Chen Chen tossed the frame as he revealed an eerie smile. "Hypnosis is a method of awakening the subconscious. Through hypnosis, many people suffering from psychological trauma can be healed."

"Besides that, it has another function. That is..."

"It can make a criminal reveal the entire course of their crime!"

"You're hypnotizing me?"

Zheng Jian's eyes widened abruptly. At last, he understood why he had kept feeling that something was off. This person was actually trying to hypnotize him?

At that thought, Zheng Jian's heart tightened. He hurriedly pinched the web between his thumb and forefinger.

A sharp pain immediately shot through him, jolting his mind awake!

"You're afraid? Afraid that after being hypnotized, you'll say something?" Chen Chen pressed relentlessly.

"Enough! I won't be hypnotized by you!"

The pain finally gave Zheng Jian some confidence. "Leave my office immediately!"

"Zheng Jian, I'll count to three. You'll return to the day your ex-wife died."

Chen Chen spoke softly. At the same time, he walked behind Zheng Jian and opened the window behind him. A cold wind instantly poured in.

"If you refuse to leave, I'm calling the police!" Zheng Jian picked up the landline on his desk.

"Three..." Chen Chen said blandly.

"Shut up and leave at once!" Cold sweat trickled down Zheng Jian's forehead as he began dialing.

"Two..." Chen Chen tossed the photo frame into the air again.

"Shut up!"

Clang!

But just as Chen Chen was about to count to one, his hand suddenly slipped, and the frame fell straight onto the floor.

"..."

"Sorry for the disturbance."

Chen Chen smiled, then turned and walked out of the office.

Click.

Only after the sound of the door closing came from the entrance did Zheng Jian wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and slump heavily into his chair.

Why did he know what I did back then?

Zheng Jian's expression darkened. He did not even understand why he was so afraid.

No matter what, he wouldn't let this go so easily...

Zheng Jian took a deep breath, a vicious glint flashing through his eyes as he bent down to pick up his ex-wife's photo frame.

But the instant he picked it up, the pendulum clock by the door rang once again.

Dong!

1...

Thanks to XFSS, Lard Bun, and Flat-Chested Ling for the tips!